This year we’ve seen fires, hurricanes, and tornadoes en masse. When traveling in your car, you’re extremely susceptible to certain extremely dangerous scenarios caused by these very disasters. In some cases, there’s really nothing you can do. There are definitely precautions that you can take to heighten your chances of coming out okay, and in any situation it’s important to be prepared. Below we have some items and explanations why you should always have them in your garage and car. During winter, it’s even more imperative to be prepared. The cold and snow can create just as dangerous situations as less common natural occurrences.
The Emergency items you should consider purchasing for your garage and car:
- Light source – Lanterns, flashlights, glow sticks and anything portable. Sometimes it’s important to get light sources that you can charge by kinetic movement. Certain flashlights can be turned by levers to charge internal batteries. If you don’t have a stock pile of batteries as well you can get into bad situations as well.
- Medical Supplies – A type of medical box is extremely important. A first aid kit can carry you through many situations better than if you didn’t have one. Car accidents are common, and glass can cause scrapes and cuts that need attention fairly quickly.
- Ice Scraper, Salt, Kitty Litter – You’ll definitely want to have ways to handle ice and snow in situations where it causes issues. Road salt can be purchased at hardware stores, and a cheaper alternative is actually Kitty Litter. Here in the mountains many of us drive with a bag in our trunks at all times for unplanned parking stops!
- Water and Food – When the weather is cold, the snow comes. When the snow comes, you get stuck. If you’re not able to leave your house you’ll want to keep a stock of nonperishable food and water in any case but it’s better to have some in your car as well at least to make an unfortunate situation more comfortable and manageable.
Some more stuff you want to keep in your car:
- Spare keys for the occasional slip-up
- Warming agents like blankets and hand warmers, possibly a small heater
- Always use a carbon monoxide detector in your garage and car, it can be hard to detect before it’s too late.
Items that have more emergencies in mind:
- Spare – keep a spare and tools to change the spare at all time, you’ll thank yourself
- Starter Cables – If your car goes dead in a snowstorm, times aren’t so rough that a stranger won’t give you a jump
- Phone Charger – Your phone is a lifeline these days, always keep it charge when the weather is rough
By the way, always carry a map! If you get lost and the weather is rough you’ll be in trouble. Steel building garages is in the business of pleasing customers first. We strive to keep you happy, safe, and protected by engineering and selling top of the line garages for your car and your home. Your livelihood depends on your ability to transport your self efficiently. The best way to protect your transportation is to buy a garage!